Jake came home from school yesterday with a worksheet. "Dad, we learned about money today!"

I looked at the paper. It had a cartoon piggy bank and lots of smiling dollar signs. The title said "Why You Need a Bank Account!"

"What did they teach you?" I asked.

"Banks keep your money safe. And they pay you interest so your money grows while you sleep!"

I flipped through the worksheet. Every question led to the same answer. Where should you keep your money? Bank. How do you save for college? Bank account. What's the safest place for money? Bank.

At the bottom it said "Sponsored by First National Bank of Brooklyn."

"Jake, how much interest do you think the bank pays?"

"A lot! The teacher said your money grows automatically."

I pulled up our savings account on my phone. "Look at this. We have $5,000 in savings. Last month they paid us $1.50 in interest."

He stared at the screen. "$1.50? That's like... nothing."

"Right. But they take our $5,000 and lend it to other people for way more. They might charge someone 7% for a car loan. We get 0.3%."

"That doesn't seem fair."

I showed him the bitcoin wallet on my phone. "This is different. Nobody controls it. No bank gets to use your money to make money for themselves."

"But the teacher said banks are safe."

"Safe from what? Your money loses value every year. Prices go up. Your dollar buys less. The bank pays you almost nothing while everything costs more."

Jake looked at the worksheet again. "This is like when McDonald's comes to school to teach us about nutrition."

I laughed. "Exactly."

"So bitcoin doesn't have a bank?"

"Bitcoin is the bank. You control it. Nobody else."

He crumpled up the worksheet. "I'm not turning this in."

"Why not?"

"Because it's a lie. And I don't like liars."

Sometimes kids see things clearer than adults.